Russia\u2019s defence ministry said Thursday it had neutralised Ukrainian military airbases and its air defence systems, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military offensive against his country\u2019s neighbour.<\/p>\n
\u201cMilitary infrastructure at Ukrainian army air bases has been rendered out of action,\u201d the defence ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies, which added that Kyiv\u2019s air defence systems were \u201celiminated\u201d.<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a\u00a0military operation in Ukraine\u00a0on Thursday with explosions heard across the country and its foreign minister warning a \u201cfull-scale invasion\u201d was underway.<\/p>\n
Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western\u00a0sanctions on Russia\u00a0failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have made the decision of a military operation,\u201d\u00a0Putin said in a surprise television announcement that triggered immediate condemnation from US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders and sent global financial markets into turmoil.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the announcement,\u00a0explosions were heard\u00a0in Ukraine\u2019s capital, Kyiv, and several other cities, according to AFP correspondents.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian border guards reported being under attack along the Russian and Belarusian frontiers.<\/p>\n
In a Facebook post, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia was attacking his country\u2019s \u201cmilitary infrastructure\u201d, but urged citizens not to panic and vowed victory.<\/p>\n
His\u00a0foreign minister said\u00a0the worst-case scenario was playing out.<\/p>\n
\u201cPutin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,\u201d Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his televised address, Putin called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and justified the operation by claiming the government was overseeing a \u201cgenocide\u201d in the east of the country.<\/p>\n
The Kremlin had earlier said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia\u2019s defence ministry said Thursday it had neutralised Ukrainian military airbases and its air defence systems, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military offensive against his country\u2019s neighbour. \u201cMilitary infrastructure at Ukrainian army air bases has been rendered out of action,\u201d the defence ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies, which …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n